England U19 1 France U19 1: Inquisition is over for Blake's boys, bring on the Spanish

A narrow win was followed by a narrow defeat and that was followed by a draw secured in the third minute of injury time: England’s Under 19s are walking the fine lines of tournament football at the European Championship in Normandy but they are learning as they go and for the second consecutive year have reached the semi-finals.

Beating Austria, losing to Holland and drawing against France, all of these experiences are sure to be beneficial to Noel Blake’s squad and reinforce the wisdom of taking youth football seriously. Next it’s Spain.

Nice timing: Matt Phillips equalises in injury time to send England through to the semi-finals

There were times in Saint-Lo on Saturday when France passed their way aroundEngland - not least in the build-up to Yannis Tafer’s opening goal.

But England also had passages of cohesive play, mainly when Dean Parrett of Tottenham was involved, and for their endurance as well as their skill, England merited their late equaliser from Wycombe’s Matt Phillips. Sadly Parrett is suspended for the semi-final against Spain.

Full of faith: England U19 coach Noel Blake

Captain Matthew James, of Manchester United, Norwich goalkeeper Declan Rudd and Spurs centre half Steven Caulker all performed impressively too. When Ryan Noble of Sunderland came on as a 74th-minute replacement for Parrett, he showed why he is rated so highly on Wearside. It was Noble’s clever turn and perfect cross that teed up Phillips.

With so much introspection in English football coming after the World Cup, this was a timely boost. Blake’s squad have received a focus not previously felt, because of South Africa, and there have been plenty of downbeat assessments - some of which Blake has agreed with.

But on Saturday Blake hit back saying: ‘I have had a belly full in the last few weeks of people saying young English footballers aren’t good enough and can’t play football the right way. We have got some good young players in our country.

‘We know we’re lacking in depth, but when you see performances like this one and the second half against Holland, nobody can criticise that.

‘I don’t think we praise our players enough. As a nation we’re very good at telling people what they can’t do. If you keep telling people they can’t do something, they end up believing it and no matter who they are their confidence will drop. That’s just human nature.

‘The more you tell people what they are good at - and be honest with them - they will start to believe it. We have got some decent players and it’s time people acknowledged that. We just need more of them.’

England face Spain tomorrow afternoon. France play Croatia in the other semi-final. Italy, who lost 3-0 to Spain on Saturday, have not scored a goal in Normandy, and England’s progress has to be seen in the context of the other countries present.

England have grown into the tournament, which is one of the aims. There is still room for improvement - France made five changes and still had the best player in 18-year-old Enzo Reale of Lyon.

But in coming second in the group England have qualified for next summer’s Under 20 World Cup in Colombia. That was Blake’s first target on arrival. ‘They all need to have more belief in themselves,’ he added, ‘and that’s a thing I see right across the board with young English players.’